Dr. Smith's Remarks on the Sedum ochroleucum. 7 



Tlie plant has so entirely the appearance of a Sedum and not 

 of a Sempervivum, and I have always thought those genera so 

 natural, and so well marked by the technical character of nec- 

 tariferous scales at the base of the germen in the former, which 

 the latter wants, that I have often regretted to read Jacquin's 

 account, which I presumed was correct. But meeting Avith this 

 plant in Dr. Sibthorp's Greek herbaiium, it became necessary 

 to investigate its characters myself. In the winter time I could 

 only examine one of his specimens by means of hot water ; but 

 there, to my great satisfaction, I found the nectariferous scales 

 as evident as in any Sedum whatever; and on dissecting living 

 flowers last summer in my garden, the same character was every 

 where obvious. In number of parts indeed this flower wanders 

 a little from the character of that genus, and from its class De- 

 candria, having often, when cultivated, as many petals, sta- 

 mens and pistils as Jacquin describes, or even more, though 

 this is chiefly the case in the first flowers of the cyme, and not 

 so much in the external ones. I have therefore introduced the 

 plant in question into the second part of the Prodromus Flora 

 Grceca, p. 312, by the name of 



Sedum ochroleucu 



M 



foliis glaucis sparsis acutis : inferioribus teretibus; superioribus 

 ellipticis depressis, laciniis calycinis acutiusculis. 



It is curious that Linnaeus, in a manuscript note, has referred 

 this plant of Jacquin to his own Sedum rupestre, a very different 

 species, which he had Adopted from Dillenius's Hortus Eltham- 

 ensis; see Engl. Bat. t. 170 and t. 1802. 



Dr. Sibthorp, who was well acquainted with his learned friend 

 Jacquin's plant, mentions it in his papers as one of the most 



common 



